[Forum SIS] JRSS- A special issue on Causal Inference from Non-Experimental Studies: Call for papers

[Alessandra Mattei]

The Journal of the Royal Statistical Society (Series A) is calling for
papers in a special issue on ''Causal Inference from Non-Experimental
Studies: Challenges, Developments and Applications''

Decisions in many fields - including medicine, public health, social
science, and finance - depend critically on the appropriate evaluation
of causal effects of competing treatments, exposures and/or policies.
Formal causal inference is crucial to assess these effects, whether
the data come from experimental or observational studies, or a
combination of both. There have been numerous methodological and
applied contributions to the causal inference literature especially
over the last two decades. They have arisen from different fields,
including statistics, epidemiology, public health, econometrics, and
demography, and have impacted not only on the work carried out in
academia but also on real-world decision-making. More recently, newer
challenges to the field have emerged, in particular from novel study
designs, large and messy data sources, and complex treatment
assignment mechanisms. This special issue of the Journal of the Royal
Statistical Society, Series A, is dedicated to these newer challenges,
associated developments and applications.

As usual with Series A, the focus is on the development and/or
evaluation of innovative methodology that is directly motivated by,
and substantially increases our understanding of, real data from
non-randomised exposures and interventions in social and medical
settings. Motivating examples include studies that deal with
high-dimensional exposures and mediators, studies with
irregular/hybrid designs, and studies with complex data structures
where units are organized in hierarchies or networks (e.g. social,
geographical, physical, economic) that give rise to interference
issues. However, this list is not exclusive, and intending authors are
welcome to email their proposals to the Guest Editor, Professor
Bianca De Stavola (b.destavola a ucl.ac.uk), and the Associate Editors,
Professor Fabrizia Mealli (mealli a disia.unifi.it) and Dr Alessandra
Mattei (mattei a disia.unifi.it). Please note that, in line with the
remit of Series A, contributions of a principally technical nature
will not be acceptable.

The deadline for manuscript submissions is midnight on 30th September
2018. Submissions -  which should clearly indicate JRSS-A Causal
Inference Special Issue in the cover letter - should be made in the
usual way, online at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jrss, where
further guidance about the structure, length and format of manuscripts
may be found. All manuscripts will be peer reviewed in line with the
journal’s standard policy. However, in order to produce the special
issue in a timely manner, authors will be asked to complete revisions
within eight weeks of receiving referee reports.


Best wishes
Alessandra Mattei, Fabrizia Mealli, Bianca De Stavola